US4112640A - Foot grille - Google Patents

Foot grille Download PDF

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Publication number
US4112640A
US4112640A US05/857,793 US85779377A US4112640A US 4112640 A US4112640 A US 4112640A US 85779377 A US85779377 A US 85779377A US 4112640 A US4112640 A US 4112640A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
rails
rail
lock bar
edge
web portion
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US05/857,793
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English (en)
Inventor
Howard B. Reifsnyder
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
EMEH Inc
Original Assignee
Construction Specialties Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Construction Specialties Inc filed Critical Construction Specialties Inc
Priority to US05/857,793 priority Critical patent/US4112640A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US4112640A publication Critical patent/US4112640A/en
Priority to JP14520978A priority patent/JPS5483556A/ja
Priority to CA317,326A priority patent/CA1097857A/en
Priority to FR7834257A priority patent/FR2410714A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E04—BUILDING
    • E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
    • E04F19/00—Other details of constructional parts for finishing work on buildings
    • E04F19/10—Built-in gratings, e.g. foot-scrapers

Definitions

  • Foot grilles are often used at the entrances to public and commercial buildings to catch dirt that people entering would otherwise track into and through the building.
  • the same grilles also can be used as gratings in places such as floor and walkway openings and the filter return overflow troughs around swimming pools.
  • the assignee of the present invention has for many years manufactured, in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,822 issued May 21, 1968, a foot grille which is made from only two major components (plus, in most cases, a tread insert component) and which is very simple to assemble.
  • the use of only two (or three) principal components and the ease of assembly have kept the cost low; the structure of the grille is such that, when properly fitted in a floor recess or opening having a flat rigid base for supporting the grille base throughout or keeping unsupported spans low, the grille stays tight and provides good service for many years.
  • the grille of U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,822 does lack one desirable property, a high transverse stiffness; the T-shaped tread rails provide considerable lengthwise stiffness, but the slotted lock bars are, structurally, little more than tie rods and, compared to the tread rails, provide only a moderate level of resistance to bending across the width. In some installations, notably those in which there are large unsupported spans, and under severe use over an extended time, the grille deflects and works and eventually loosens.
  • the grille of the present invention consists of two basic components, generally T-shaped tread rails and key lock bars, plus, in most cases, a tread insert.
  • the tread rail has a vertical web portion, an upper flange and a lower flange.
  • the lock bars pass through longitudinally spacedapart, generally triangular cutouts in the rails and are tightly wedged between the upper and lower flanges.
  • Each cutout is bounded by a vertical edge that extends the full height of the web portion, a base edge that is coextensive with the juncture between the web portion and the bottom flange and an oblique (hypotenuse) edge having a length not less than the overall height of the lock bar.
  • the lock bar which is preferably a simple strip of rectangular cross section having a height somewhat greater than the height of the web portion of the rail, has notches in its lower edge that receive the lower flanges of the rails. It is desirable to taper the lateral edges of the notches downwardly and outwardly away from each other and from the lower flanges to facilitate assembly by making it unnecessary to line up the lower flanges of the rails precisely with the notches of the lock bars and to permit a wedging action and interference fit between the notches and the lower flanges of the rail.
  • each cutout in the tread rail component is preferably a shallow notch shaped in profile to match and dimensioned to provide an interference fit with the upper edge of the lock bar, thus to fix the upper edge of the lock bar against moving longitudinally of the rail.
  • the lower edge of the bar is locked in place by the wedging frictional engagement between the edges of the notch and the top and corner surfaces of the lower flange of the rail.
  • each lock bar is received in a notch punched from a longitudinally continuous dependent rib on the underside of the upper flange of each rail laterally spaced from the web portion; the two point locking of the lock bar in notches on the rail supplements the frictional wedging of the lock bar between the upper and lower flange of the rail in keeping the grille from deforming from a true right angle between the rails and lock bars (i.e., from skewing).
  • the grille has the following characteristics:
  • tread rails are, in fact, small "I"-beams having considerable resistance to vertical deflection; the lock bars "tie" adjacent rails together rigidly for vertical load-sharing;
  • the lock bars have effective heights equal to the heights of the web portions of the rails and effectively resist binding and carry vertical forces from rail to rail [vertical load-sharing, as in item (1)];
  • FIG. 1 is an end view in cross section of the embodiment, portions being broken away to reduce duplication and permit enlargement of the scale;
  • FIG. 2 is a side view in cross section of the embodiment of FIG. 1, portions being broken away;
  • FIG. 3 is an end cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the grille.
  • the grille shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a number of side-by-side closely-spaced parallel tread rails 10, all of which are pieces cut to the required length from an extrusion and are therefore of identical, uniform cross section.
  • Each rail 10 is generally T-shaped in cross section, having a vertical web portion 12, a lower flange 14, which consists of complementary generally U-shaped parts configured to provide lateral stiffness and top, side and bottom faces of substantial area, and an upper flange 16 of very shallow "U"-shape to provide a trough for reception of a tread insert 18.
  • the tread insert is a strip of carpet, but the trough can also receive a plastic insert or be filled with a non-slip abrasive binder material.
  • the carpet form of insert is based on U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,822.
  • the tread rails 10 are rigidly joined together by key lock bars 20 received at intervals along the length of the rails through generally triangular cutouts 22 in the web portions 12 of the rails.
  • Each cutout has a vertical edge 22a extending the full height of the web portion, a base edge 22b that is coextensive with the juncture between the web portion and the lower flange 14, and an oblique (hypotenuse) edge 22c having a length greater than the overall height of the lock bar 20 so that the lock bar can be slided endwise through the cutout by orienting it oblique to the top flange, as shown by phantom lines in FIG. 2.
  • the lock bars 20 are flat metal strips of rectagular cross section having notches 24 punched out along the lower edge.
  • the lateral edges of the notches 24 taper downwardly and outwardly relative to each other and to the adjacent lateral walls of the lower flanges of the rails.
  • each cutout 22 in the web portion 12 of each rail is a small rectangular notch shaped and dimensioned to match the cross section of the upper edge of the key lock bar 20. That notch is in register (and, as shown in FIG. 2, therefore, coincides) with a similar small rectangular notch 26 cut into a longitudinal, dependent rib 28 on the underside of the upper flange 16 of the rail.
  • the grille is assembled by positioning the rails 10 in a jig, sliding the lock bars 20 through the aligned cutouts (by turning them to be oblique to the upper flanges of the rails), starting the upper edges of the bars into the notches at the upper apexes of the cutouts 22 and in the ribs 28 and then forcibly rotating the bars about their upper edges until the bars are tightly wedged vertically between the upper and lower flanges of the rails.
  • the vertical edges 22a provide stop surfaces limiting the rotating of the bars upon assembly and establishing the final vertical position.
  • the grille shown in FIG. 3 has the same overall construction as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The only difference is that the rails of the grille of FIG. 3 do not have tread inserts.
  • the top flange 16' of the rail has a grooved upper tread surface and outwardly extending rib portions at the top of the web portion 12'; the upper edges of the lock bars 20 frictionally engage the rib portions and the lateral extremities of the rail flanges 16'.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Architecture (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Tires In General (AREA)
  • Toys (AREA)
  • Bathtub Accessories (AREA)
  • Road Paving Structures (AREA)
US05/857,793 1977-12-05 1977-12-05 Foot grille Expired - Lifetime US4112640A (en)

Priority Applications (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/857,793 US4112640A (en) 1977-12-05 1977-12-05 Foot grille
JP14520978A JPS5483556A (en) 1977-12-05 1978-11-24 Foot grill
CA317,326A CA1097857A (en) 1977-12-05 1978-12-04 Foot grille
FR7834257A FR2410714A1 (fr) 1977-12-05 1978-12-05 Grille essuie-pieds

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/857,793 US4112640A (en) 1977-12-05 1977-12-05 Foot grille

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US4112640A true US4112640A (en) 1978-09-12

Family

ID=25326758

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US05/857,793 Expired - Lifetime US4112640A (en) 1977-12-05 1977-12-05 Foot grille

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US4112640A (US20020095090A1-20020718-M00002.png)
JP (1) JPS5483556A (US20020095090A1-20020718-M00002.png)
CA (1) CA1097857A (US20020095090A1-20020718-M00002.png)
FR (1) FR2410714A1 (US20020095090A1-20020718-M00002.png)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4566243A (en) * 1982-07-29 1986-01-28 Benchcraft, Inc. Plank grating assembly
US4761930A (en) * 1981-12-14 1988-08-09 Fibergrate Corporation Grating system
US4865486A (en) * 1988-02-09 1989-09-12 Bettigole Neal H Method of assembling a steel grid and concrete deck
US4903444A (en) * 1988-10-03 1990-02-27 Berndt Jr Fred P Floor grating
WO1996000340A1 (en) * 1994-06-23 1996-01-04 Gary Sheath A cruciform joint of glazing bars
US5509243A (en) * 1994-01-21 1996-04-23 Bettigole; Neal H. Exodermic deck system
US5664378A (en) * 1995-12-07 1997-09-09 Bettigole; Robert A. Exodermic deck system
US5852902A (en) * 1997-07-01 1998-12-29 Balco Metalines, Inc. Locking entry grid

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4006695A1 (de) * 1990-03-01 1991-09-05 Alfons Lewicki Gullyeinsatz, insbesondere fuer fussmatten, mit ueberstehenden buersten

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB371147A (en) * 1931-03-31 1932-04-21 Karl Wladimir Branczik Improvements in or relating to a method and means of making gratings, metallic floorings and similar gridwork
US1946035A (en) * 1932-09-12 1934-02-06 Henry C Reuter Grating
US2082197A (en) * 1933-03-25 1937-06-01 Beulah H Bates Grating
US2275105A (en) * 1937-12-29 1942-03-03 Gerald G Greulich Grating structure
US2952905A (en) * 1955-08-03 1960-09-20 United States Steel Corp Method of making open floor gratings
US2960919A (en) * 1956-10-24 1960-11-22 Reliance Steel Prod Co Grating and method of making same
GB909988A (en) * 1960-04-21 1962-11-07 Reliance Steel Prod Co Grating
US3383822A (en) * 1965-12-17 1968-05-21 Specialties Const Grating
US3716027A (en) * 1971-08-13 1973-02-13 Reynolds Metals Co Floor construction and member for making same

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS4723623U (US20020095090A1-20020718-M00002.png) * 1971-04-07 1972-11-16

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB371147A (en) * 1931-03-31 1932-04-21 Karl Wladimir Branczik Improvements in or relating to a method and means of making gratings, metallic floorings and similar gridwork
US1946035A (en) * 1932-09-12 1934-02-06 Henry C Reuter Grating
US2082197A (en) * 1933-03-25 1937-06-01 Beulah H Bates Grating
US2275105A (en) * 1937-12-29 1942-03-03 Gerald G Greulich Grating structure
US2952905A (en) * 1955-08-03 1960-09-20 United States Steel Corp Method of making open floor gratings
US2960919A (en) * 1956-10-24 1960-11-22 Reliance Steel Prod Co Grating and method of making same
GB909988A (en) * 1960-04-21 1962-11-07 Reliance Steel Prod Co Grating
US3383822A (en) * 1965-12-17 1968-05-21 Specialties Const Grating
US3716027A (en) * 1971-08-13 1973-02-13 Reynolds Metals Co Floor construction and member for making same

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4761930A (en) * 1981-12-14 1988-08-09 Fibergrate Corporation Grating system
US4566243A (en) * 1982-07-29 1986-01-28 Benchcraft, Inc. Plank grating assembly
US4865486A (en) * 1988-02-09 1989-09-12 Bettigole Neal H Method of assembling a steel grid and concrete deck
US4903444A (en) * 1988-10-03 1990-02-27 Berndt Jr Fred P Floor grating
US5509243A (en) * 1994-01-21 1996-04-23 Bettigole; Neal H. Exodermic deck system
WO1996000340A1 (en) * 1994-06-23 1996-01-04 Gary Sheath A cruciform joint of glazing bars
US5791102A (en) * 1994-06-23 1998-08-11 Gary Sheath Cruciform joint of glazing bars
US5664378A (en) * 1995-12-07 1997-09-09 Bettigole; Robert A. Exodermic deck system
US5852902A (en) * 1997-07-01 1998-12-29 Balco Metalines, Inc. Locking entry grid

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH0141329B2 (US20020095090A1-20020718-M00002.png) 1989-09-05
CA1097857A (en) 1981-03-24
JPS5483556A (en) 1979-07-03
FR2410714A1 (fr) 1979-06-29
FR2410714B3 (US20020095090A1-20020718-M00002.png) 1981-10-02

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